


Replaceable

by CinnamonSeven



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Cross-Posted on Wattpad, Family, Family Feels, Helpful Deceit | Janus Sanders, Hurt Logic | Logan Sanders, Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst, Logan is so smart but also so dumb and i love him, Logic | Logan Sanders is Bad at Feelings, Misunderstandings, Sad Logic | Logan Sanders, Science Experiments, Sides As Family (Sanders Sides), Sympathetic Deceit | Janus Sanders, and life span, bad science actually, dont do this, i have the attention span of a fruit fly, listen i love this snake and you cant stop me, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-03
Updated: 2021-03-03
Packaged: 2021-03-15 17:00:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,171
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29811567
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CinnamonSeven/pseuds/CinnamonSeven
Summary: Logic was. . . curious. Purely curious, was what he told himself, sitting in his room, alone, and lost to his thoughts.(In which Logic's grasp on social cues are less-than-stellar, the Sides struggle, and Deceit is really tired of these morons getting into dumb issues.)
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil & Creativity | Roman & Logic | Logan & Morality | Patton, Anxiety | Virgil Sanders & Deceit | Janus Sanders, Anxiety | Virgil Sanders & Logic | Logan Sanders, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders & Logic | Logan Sanders, Deceit | Janus Sanders & Logic | Logan Sanders, Logic | Logan Sanders & Everyone, Logic | Logan Sanders & Morality | Patton Sanders
Comments: 6
Kudos: 69





	Replaceable

**Author's Note:**

> Why is 'replaceable' spelled like that? Disgusting.
> 
> Anyways, I love the whole 'Logan is the least favorite' angst tropes, because he hasn't been the least favorite since, like. . . the third episode.
> 
> Somewhere along the line, we all went gay for the tall smart guy and just never went back.

Logic was. . . curious. Purely curious, was what he told himself, sitting in his room, alone, and lost to his thoughts.

Curious, because Logic was a man ( _ personality trait _ , he corrected) of science and reason. He liked facts. He  _ understood  _ facts. He needed proof for every fact, facts for every hypothesis, and a hypothesis for any idea. It was how he lived. It was how he  _ functioned _ .

So, yes. He was curious.

Not hurt, he reminded himself. Not  _ hurt  _ or  _ confused  _ or  _ broken  _ about- Well. Those were  _ emotions _ . No facts ever came from emotions. Facts came from research, which came from curiosity.

Only  _ curious _ . Nothing more, nothing less.

Curious how they weren't very upset when Deceit had forcibly silenced him. Curious how when Deceit had been discovered to be impersonating Morality, they had demanded the lovable trait back immediately, but when it was him - even after noticing right away - they had been content to allow the snake to linger for a while. Curious how they didn't mind when he was banished to the back of the courtroom for the entire trial, where he tried to bite back all of the words he so desperately wanted to add. Curious how they didn't care about how Morality's room was affecting him. Curious how they didn't come after him when they left. Curious how they fell for Deceit impersonating him  _ again _ , allowed him to stay  _ again _ , and didn't question if Logic was alright afterwards.

Curious, curious, curious.

Amidst the inexplicable twisting in his gut (probably just indigestion; he refused to acknowledge any other explanation), he proposed an experiment to himself. A way to. . . rectify the odd feelin- the  _ curiosity  _ that had taken hold of his thoughts.

Finally, he had a plan, split in stages. He would construct a hypothesis for each stage, collect data, draw a conclusion, and modify whatever he needed once the experiment was over. Nothing would go wrong.

He knew he had to plan accordingly. If he let the others in on the plan, their interference would skew his data (and he didn't want to face the possibility of them encouraging his changes), which meant his adjustments would need to be gradual, not abrupt. He had to arrange the stages carefully. He had to monitor his progress thoroughly.

He felt he was ready.

(The pit in his stomach got deeper.)

* * *

**Stage One:** _Vocals._

 **Question:** _Do I talk too much?_

 **Research:** _People cut me off often, lose interest when I speak, zone out, and don't seem upset when I am forcibly silenced._

**Hypothesis:** _ People would tolerate my company more if I spoke less. _

Logic mentally tallied up his words, decreasing them every day by as much as he calculated he could get away with. Essays turned to paragraphs, turned to sentences, turned to words, turned to silence. He stopped chiming in with fun facts (maybe he was the only one who considered them 'fun'), and he stopped correcting misinformation if it wasn't necessary. He didn't participate in small talk or mealtime conversations unless he was addressed. Even then, he quickly formatted his words in his head to keep it at a minimum word limit.

He noticed the changes. When he  _ was  _ addressed, they focused on him. When he  _ did  _ speak, they seemed to listen better. He saw less rolled eyes, heard less sighs of annoyance. Anxiety didn't have his headphones on as much around him. Prince stopped turning up the TV when he came in. Morality was comfortable enough to exist in silence with him instead of striking up conversation.

(So what if his mouth tasted of blood from biting his tongue so often? So what if his head was aching with words and thoughts that he so intensely wanted to spit out and his body trembled with the effort of suppressing them?)

**Conclusion:** _Talk less._

* * *

**Stage Two:** _Presence._

 **Question:** _Do they want me around as much as I am?_

 **Research:** _They don't seem worried or bothered when I don't show up, they don't protest when I am cast to the back, and my disappearances have never caused concern._

 **Hypothesis:** _They would enjoy my presence more if I limited it._

Logic, despite how he may have presented himself, actually rather enjoyed being around people. He may not have been good with emotions or being 'touchy-feely', but he enjoyed company. That's why he tended to spend his time in the living room.

He made a point to attend every meal, every movie night, and claimed his favorite armchair in the living room to read in whenever he had free time. However, considering it, he could understand how the others might. . .  _ tire  _ of his continued presence.

He limited his time. At first he began to take breakfast in his study and only spend an hour or less reading in the commons. Then he started to have lunch while he worked. He stopped reading in the commons. He came up with excuses to miss movie nights more often than not.

It also invoked a change. The others noticed when he arrived and greeted him. They asked if he would be joining them for meals or movie nights. He found no annoyance when he  _ did  _ decide to join them.

As an extra test, he took a risk and didn't come out of his room for an entire day and a half. When he returned, they greeted him cheerfully like nothing had happened and invited him for a movie that night. He chose not to accept.

(So what if the silence of his room was slowly driving him crazy? So what if his skin was buzzing with the need to be around people and have those connections?)

**Conclusion:** _Appear less._

* * *

**Stage Three:** _Replacement._

 **Question:** _Would they notice if I was gone? More accurately: would they care?_

 **Research:** _The first time they noticed, but they didn't fight to bring me back. They allowed him to take my place. The second time, they didn't notice. When I returned, they didn't seem to care either way._

 **Hypothesis:** _T̶h̶e̶y̶ ̶d̶o̶n̶'̶t̶ ̶c̶a̶r̶e̶ ̶a̶b̶o̶u̶t̶ ̶m̶e̶ If they noticed I was being replaced, they wouldn't find it necessarily upsetting._

Logic knew that the last stage would be the hardest. Because he had to get the other to agree, of course. Not- Not because he was  _ worried  _ about the outcome.

Taking a deep breath, he raised his hand and blinked, staring into the familiar mismatched eyes he had called upon.

"Well, this certainly  _ isn't  _ a surprise."

"I need your assistance." Logic gripped his notebook tighter, summoning the courage for his next sentence. "I need you to replace me for a few days."

Deceit blinked, uncrossing his arms as a rare flash of genuine surprise appeared on his face. "You- I'm sorry; you  _ what? _ "

Logic took another breath. "I'm performing an. . . experiment. I need you to impersonate me for a few days so I can gather data."

Deceit's eyes narrowed, his forked tongue darting out briefly. "What sort of experiment?"

"An important one. Please, Janus."

A long beat passed between the two. Finally, Deceit groaned. "Let me get this straight; you want me to imitate you - not just in front of Thomas in the real world - but around the others in the Mindscape for a  _ few days _ . I know my skills are incredible, Logan, but I think you're overselling them a bit."

Logic straightened. "You'll do it?"

"On one condition." Deceit held up a hand. "You tell me  _ exactly  _ what experiment this is for."

Reluctantly, Logic agreed. Deceit listened, remarkably quiet as Logic talked, his full attention on the Light Side. Once he had finished, Deceit was silent for a long moment before standing with a soft, "Okay. I'll do it.".

Logic was nothing if not prepared, so he withdrew the notes he had written out for the snake. "Try to avoid being alone with Virgil for too long. It won't take much for him to figure it out. But- But if he  _ asks  _ for you, then go. It means he's anxious and needs your company." Logic handed over the notebook. "This a comprehensive schedule of my daily routine and the changes I've been making since the start of this experiment. And  _ here _ ," he pointed at a page, "begins a list of things and details that aren't common knowledge outside of the four of us. For example, the 'fruit by the foot's are Virgil's and Virgil's  _ alone _ . If the entire box goes empty, there's a good chance he's making a lasso and he'll try to catch someone in it."

Deceit gave him an incredulous look. Logic ignored it.

"If Roman appears from his room with paint on any part of his person, it's intentional because he wants to show off his latest artwork, but he doesn't want to come off as conceited, so he cleans up all but a bit of the paint and waits for someone to notice." Logic closed his eyes for a minute. "Just ask him if he's been painting and if you can see it." He flipped the page. "Patton fidgets a lot on his bad days - tapping his fingers, unable to sit still, and such - so if you notice, offer him one of my puzzles. I have a specific section on my shelves that have puzzles for Patton. Grab one of those." He handed over the notebook. "Thank you again, Janus. This will be very beneficial."

Deceit stared at him with a look he couldn't quite decipher. Then the snake blurred and Logic was staring back at a carbon copy of himself, whose left eye was fading from a brilliant yellow. "I'm sure it will be."

Logic was left wondering if that was a lie or not.

* * *

There was something wrong with Logic. They had noticed from day one. He had started a new book the day before, but he hadn't said anything about it the entire next day. He was quieter, giving short responses, and almost seemed like he was waiting for someone to ask him to speak.

They didn't want to push. Maybe he was tired. Maybe he was working on a new project and was trying to keep it a surprise. Maybe he was focused and just lost in thought. Maybe he had been dealing with sensory issues and the noise was a bit too much for him.

They tried to open themselves up for him. They focused on him whenever he  _ did  _ speak. They remembered whatever he was talking about to try and make conversation later. Anxiety made an effort to keep his headphones off in case Logic wanted to talk. Prince was careful to keep the TV volume low in case Logic was sensitive to excess noise. Morality didn't force Logic into conversations in case he wanted to talk about something specific and thought interrupting would be rude.

It persisted for a week before it changed again. Logic stopped joining them for breakfast. The meal quickly became twenty minutes of half-hearted conversations and nervous glances towards the empty chair. Morality constantly had to remind himself not to set four places.

Then Logic stopped reading in the commons and showing up for lunch. They were all nervous, but still, it was his choice. It wasn't uncommon for Logic to devote himself to new projects (although they usually didn't last this long and he always warned them beforehand), so maybe he was just diving into his work. When he stopped coming to movie nights, they intentionally started bringing attention to him when he was around. They purposefully invited him to movie nights, trying not to sound like they were begging.

He disappeared for a day and a half, and they all tried to hold it together. Anxiety ended up parked in the hallway in front of the door for a solid three hours, keeping watch. Morality had to physically hold Prince back from breaking the door down, claiming that Logic had a right to his privacy. They spent the majority of the time huddled on the couch together, watching the hallway and waiting for the last member to appear.

When he returned, they rushed to greet him, forced cheerful and silently hoping it was over. That he had finished whatever he was working on and everything would go back to normal. The hastily invited him to an impromptu movie night, swearing to themselves that they would sit through hours of space documentaries if he said yes.

He said no.

"I'm confronting him." Anxiety cracked his knuckles, staring at the hallway a day later.

Morality rested a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Virgil, we still don't know what's wrong. If he's just stressed, we need to handle this right or we could make it worse."

Virgil growled. "Then I'm gonna  _ figure out _ what's wrong. Logan always helps us out when we're struggling. You bet your ass I'm gonna do the same for him." He ignored Morality's quiet warning of "language!" and Prince's worried look, starting towards the hall.

Then Logic himself walked out, stopping at the sight of them. "Greetings and salutations." He glanced back at the hallway, raising an eyebrow. "Were you. . . planning to storm my room?"

"Of course not!" Morality cut in quickly. "We were, er, coming to get you to. . . watch a movie!" He lightly tapped Prince's ankle with his foot, their sign for "please 'yes, and' me".

"There's a new space documentary on Netflix that I will agree to watch if you watch a Disney movie of  _ my  _ choosing afterwards." Prince bargained, easily latching onto Morality's set-up.

Anxiety's eyes narrowed at the man in front of him. "It sounds pretty interesting, Lo. We could talk about it later."

Logic looked between them for a minute before nodding once. "That sounds agreeable. I'll accept."

They all tried not to look visibly relieved as they traipsed to the living room, "Logic" ignoring Anxiety's gaze piercing into him.

* * *

Deceit was many things, but stupid wasn't one of them.

Logic may not have been adept at understanding social cues, but it was a huge part of Deceit's abilities. Where Logic may have noticed no real change, or thought the changes meant something they didn't, Deceit was not as naive.

He saw the concern in their eyes, heard the desperation in their voices. He noticed that they were trying to restrain themselves from commenting, most likely to not stress out Logic, assuming he would talk if he needed to.

He realized that what Logic saw as progress, they meant as worry.

The whole 'experiment' was a huge, stupid misunderstanding because Logic was an emotionally-constipated fool and the others tended to forget that.

Anxiety cornered him less than forty-eight hours after he began impersonating Logic. "What the fuck are you doing here, and where is he?"

"I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about, Virgil." The lie was less to save face and more just to draw it out. What could he say; he was a snake with flair.

The darker persona bared his teeth in a snarl. "Don't  _ lie  _ to me, you fuckwit. I'm only gonna ask one more time -  **what did you do to Logan?** "

"I haven't done anything to him." Deceit let his left eye shine with golden color, affirming Anxiety's suspicions and reassuring him of his honesty. "He called me for help with an experiment. Rest assured, he is fi- Well, he's unharmed."

Anxiety bristled. "What kind of experiment? What are you talking about?"

Deceit cast a look down the hall. "With all due respect, Virgil, I believe this is an issue we need to address with everyone. It's going to take all of us to remedy the situation."

He stared at the deceptive side a moment longer, searching his face for any sign of malicious intent. Then his shoulders slumped and he stepped back, running a hand through his disheveled hair. "Is- Is he. . . How is he?"

"He's. . ." Deceit hesitated, "struggling. But I believe it can be fixed."

Anxiety just nodded.

* * *

"Why are you leading me to the commons so late?" Logic sighed, rubbing at his eyes underneath his glasses as Deceit hauled him along.

"You  _ won't  _ see in a minute."

Logic stopped when Deceit did and raised an eyebrow. "And. . . what is it I'm supposed to  _ not  _ be seeing?"

" _ Logan! _ "

A weight slammed into him from the side and she stumbled, trying to regain his balance. It took him a minute to recognize the light blue polo and haphazardly-tied grey cardigan. "Patton?" He turned a sharp glare on Deceit. "What have you done?"

"No, Logan; what have  _ you  _ done?!" Another voice snapped. Logic locked eyes with a teary-eyed, furious Prince,  _ who was holding his experiment notebook _ in hand. "Did you really think- Why didn't- Just. . .  _ Why?! _ "

Logic swallowed as Morality slowly backed away, wiping his steadily-falling tears. "This- It was just an experiment - "

A darkly-dressed figure swiped the notebook, holding it up with a mix of sadness and rage littering his gaze. "An  _ experiment? _ " Anxiety flipped open the book. "'Conclusion: talk less'? 'Would they notice if I was gone'? 'Would they  _ care'?! _ " He slammed the notebook down on the coffee table. "This isn't an experiment, Logan, this is sick!" He stammered for a minute and Logic was horrified to see streaks of eyeshadow running down his face. "Did- Did you really think we thought this  _ little  _ of you?!"

It took a couple beats before Logic realized they were waiting for an  _ answer _ . He glanced over at Deceit again, but the snake just gave him an apologetic shake of the head. "I. . . I was. . . curious and I thought- I thought I could figure this out by myself; I- It seemed to be yielding optimal results."

A displeased hiss escaped Anxiety and Morality quickly stepped forward. "Logan, all those things you 'observed'. . . It wasn't anything like what you thought. We were worried something was wrong, and- and we should've done something sooner. I thought you'd come to- to us, but," his voice cracked and Logic flinched, "but we should've come to  _ you _ . I'm sorry- I'm so sorry, Logan!"

Logic numbly accepted the other back into an embrace, feeling tears wet his shirt. "I. . . I don't understand."

"Logan, you're the dumbest smart guy I know." Anxiety wiped his eyes with his sleeves. "We don't  _ want  _ you to stop talking or stop hanging out with us or- or fucking  _ disappear _ , we just. . . We want you  _ back _ , dude. I don't know what the  _ hell  _ you were thinking, but it was  _ wrong _ ."

Prince glared down at the notebook before raising softer eyes towards Logic. "We  _ miss  _ you, Spock. So forget all this. . . this experiment nonsense and come back to us."

Logic wasn't sure what happened next, but he must've nodded because he was soon encompassed by two more pairs of arms. Anxiety's cheek - sticky with runny eyeshadow - pressed against his collarbone. "If you ever try that again, Lo, I'll kick your ass."

"I concur." Prince muttered into his shoulder.

Morality's head dug into his sternum. "Language."

Logic met flashing yellow eyes over their heads. Deceit offered a half-smile. "I told you this would turn out beneficial."

**Conclusion:** _They cared about him._

**Author's Note:**

> He's baby, he's beautiful, and I'd die for him.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed, or whatever. Have a great night!


End file.
